How Strong Is the Word Love?
by Yukitoshuu Itsumademo
Summary: I originally put up poem that was intended to be this story bc I uploaded the wrong file. If you read Meaning of Love, that was a mistake. Helga's look back on the one time in her life that changed everything. Arnold got rejected, and she was there to pr


How Strong is the Word Love?  
  
By Arnoldnhelga4eva  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold.  
  
When I started receiving reviews that I didn't expect, I was wondering what was wrong. I posted it up on Tuesday night, and didn't go on the internet Wednesday. I talked to one of my friends and she told me that it didn't go with my summary and it looked like a poem more than a story. I wasn't able to fix it yesterday because there seemed to be something wrong with my account so that's why I'm posting the REAL story today. Sorry about that and I erased the other story. That was actually a poem that I wrote a while ago and I must have uploaded that file instead of this one. Sorry for the mess up. I think I'll get more positive responses to this one (though I thank the people who gave me more constructive criticism than a flame. Thanks, my mistake.)  
  
Okay, this is one of many short fics I've written a while ago and haven't had time to type up till now. I don't have much to say except, enjoy.  
  
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Love? What does that word mean? It has many more meanings than letters it holds. We love to love, we love to hate, and it's a courteous word at the end of a letter. We hate someone so much that we love them. It's used so much it's become a phrase. Or, we tell a white lie to make someone happy. It is used so often, wrongly that sometimes I feel it has lost its meaning. I remember the first time I used the word, love.  
  
Back in Kindergarten--or was it preschool? Either way I met the flaxen haired angel I know of as the one I wanted to be my Romeo. Was I foolish back then, at only three? But as Juliet says, 'My only love sprung from my only hate.' In my case that means I have to continue this charade of hostility towards the one person I love most in this world? Why must I be as I am? Perhaps it is because the others tease and mock; my only defenses being my fists. They know my strengths and don't dare bother me, except Harold, but that's a different story. They all cringe as I walk by, duck as I raise my hand, run when I chase them.  
  
I have the power over them.  
  
But do I really? No, they control me with their taunts, me fighting back with my army. If I really had the power I'd be with him at that time, and he would love me.  
  
There's that word again. Do we really know how to use it? Have we lost the meaning over the years as people marry for money, or looks? We don't' seem to fall in love anymore; we fall into traps we can't escape alone. That happened to him.  
  
It sounds so funny that I hate him so much that I love him, but my good side shone through his bump in the road. Why did she do that to him once again; to rip his heart out and throw it in the dirt we spit in. The mask she wears covers everything we think she is, until.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
Arnold! I've told you oh so many times that I don't like you like you, but now I don't even like you! I would prefer we don't talk. I'm feeling oh so uncomfortable around you. Good bye.  
  
~^~  
  
I saw the entire thing from beginning to end. He remain stationary, his jaw slightly ajar from the shock. I walked from my post, the only other one left on the over-used playground of the middle school. As I drew closer, I noticed his eyes resembled a deer in headlights, not seeing anything that came at him, but definitely felt it.  
  
I could tell he felt it; I felt it. I mustered up every ounce of confidence stored away and comforted him, deciding to ditch school to talk.  
  
We walked through the park in silence, disregarding our earlier thoughts of talking until he spoke.  
  
'Thanks Helga.' He said. I turned to him. What had I done? I hadn't said anything.  
  
'Huh?' I asked dumbly.  
  
'Thanks, for walking with me,' so that's where he was going, 'I'm glad I've got a friend like you.' Friend?  
  
'Friend?' I asked for a second time dumbly, but realizing the subject change was good.  
  
'Well, I've always thought we were friends, even though you pick on me. I think we've been friends since we met.' Friends? Through meant for the best, those words could crush you. At least he thought we were friends, it was a start.  
  
'Y-yeah, friends.' I said sullenly. He looked over, his face inquiring my mood.  
  
'What's wrong?' Huh?  
  
'Huh?' I asked, 'Oh, oh, nothing. I-I guess I'm just tired.' He nodded his head as if in agreement, then looked down at where he was walking, me memorizing his every step. We approached a bench and sat down, our elbows touching. He looked up at me suddenly, throwing me out of thought.  
  
'I wasn't going to ask her out or anything, I was just going to tell her the bell rang. I guess she didn't know I was over her a while ago; it just shocked me and makes me sad--that she--doesn't want to be near me. I didn't do anything to her.' Gently I placed my hand on his shoulder, the most affection I've showed him since that one summer.  
  
'Don't worry about her. She's just going around, acting so everyone will like her. She's not worth the room in your head; forget about her. She's just like the rest, as fake as they come,' I was on a roll, ' I mean, us? We're individuals, unique, don't give in to peer pressure,' was that a lie? He was looking at me intently now,  
  
'We won't do something, because everyone else does. You go along with your Grandmother's crazy Thanksgiving. I give up a huge contract because it's ruining who I am, there's just not many people like us Arnold, we--' I paused for a moment, trying to find the right word. I smiled as it left my lips; 'we're "special," as Mr. Simmons says.' He laughed at my joke, the first time that day and it set me off to do something I don't normally do because it's actually funny--I laughed.  
  
As our laughter diminished he hugged me and for the first time, I hugged him back. It felt so right, just him in my arms, us wrapped together. Woven tightly in comfort.  
  
'Thank you,' he whispered in my ear. I smiled and answered back.  
  
'No problem football head.' He chuckled slightly at my response and whispered something back, misusing the way it should be used. I think he let the wrong words slip out, though I can't really tell for sure these days.  
  
'I love you when you say that.' What's that supposed to mean? I pulled back quickly, a little scared.  
  
'What?' I stared straight into his eyes, the ones that hypnotize me every day. He shook himself out of his revere and sat up straight, just realizing what he said. It seems to me his heart took over his mind, or at least I hoped.  
  
'I-I said I like it when you say that, its just funny how you use that nickname now.' He said behind a blush. I just had to blush too, but I was still disappointed.  
  
'O-okay, s-sure.' We sat in silence for what seemed like forever until we noticed some people walking around in the park; then we saw her.  
  
'Lila!' I said in a vehement whisper. Arnold looked scared, like a lost puppy that had seen its abusive owner again.  
  
'Look Arnold, sometimes people need a little taste of their own medicine.' He looked at me and I smiled wickedly back; he too began to smile in realization of what I meant. Lila approached us.  
  
'Oh Arnold, I'm just ever so sorry about my outburst. It was just oh so wrong of me. Can you ever forgive me?' He was looking at her, almost with pity for a moment until I saved his butt.  
  
'Some people aren't what they seem,' I whispered to him, 'Remember Summer?' At the mention of her name, he suddenly got this new spark in him.  
  
'Don't do this to me Lila. I know what you're really like. You showed it to me when you told me you didn't even like me anymore. You put up this big charade, like Helga so people will get an idea of who you really aren't,' Where was he going with this? 'You act nice, but you really aren't all that nice.'  
  
'Oh but Arnold, you were going to ask me out again, and I just can't stand turning you down every time.'  
  
'I wasn't going to ask you out!' I was surprised at the veheminance in his voice, 'I-I don't like you like you anymore, I just like you.' Lila looked at him in shock.  
  
'Y-you don't?' He looked at the ground somewhat sullenly.  
  
'N-no, I-I don't. I-I guess after you told me over and over again that you like me, you just don't like me like me, it finally sunk in.' He chuckled slightly.  
  
'Yeah, well it takes a while for a football head like you.' I interjected into their conversation. Hey, I had to say something. They both laughed at my comment.  
  
'Whatever you say Helga.' He laughed still.  
  
'Well then Arnold,' Lila said a little coquettishly suddenly sending a rush of jealousy coursing through my vines, 'Who ever do you like?' Uh-oh. My muscles grew stiff and my joints wouldn't budge. I was stuck standing up, not being able to faint. A blush grew on Arnold's face the size of my fist, and I waited for the bad news; once again he would 'love' someone else, another that I would have to hate. Wait, could you really love at twelve? Then again, I loved at three, but it was a silly, naïve type of love that blossomed into something greater.  
  
'I-I, well-I.' He stuttered nervously. My muscles started to relax from his nervousness. Lila stood there casually, waiting for his answer, knowing it would hurt me. That's how shallow she is. She's one of the only souls in the world that know my secret, and she's using it to rip out my heart.  
  
'C-can I speak to Helga, alone, Lila?' he asked timidly. I looked at him skeptically and could almost feel like it would be a good conversation. Lila looked on happily.  
  
'Of course Arnold, I'll see you both in school tomorrow.' She walked away dignantly as we both watched until she was out of sight. We stood there for a moment until I couldn't stand it anymore.  
  
'Well,' I said a little more spitefully than I intended, 'Who is it? Who's the new girl you're fawning over.' I walked over and sat on the bench looking down at my feet. I wouldn't be able to take much more of it, even Helga Pataki has her limits. I had visions of his wife children and myself as a thirty-year-old, stalking him and his family if everything kept going as it had. We'd still be 'friends,' and I'd still be Helga Pataki, hopeless romantic. It was pathetic. So far that's what the record had shown. By now he was so nervous he was almost shaking. I looked at him concernedly, him still looking at his feet.  
  
'I-I'm almost afraid to tell you now, unless you've changed your mind.' What!?  
  
'H-huh?' I looked up at him shocked. He looked up at me with a goofy smile on his lips. I think I knew and I hoped that I knew what he was talking about. I silently hoped and prayed it was what I thought it was, was it?  
  
I-I.love.you, Helga.' WHAT!?  
  
'What!!!???' I screamed which was not the reaction I intended on giving him. My every dream had come true, every dream, every sigh, and every cry. It had all come true, and my only reaction was another dumb question.  
  
'Why?' Yet another stupid question. Why wouldn't my mouth say anything my heart was feeling? Why?  
  
'Because,' he started, 'You're not who you seem, and I've seen it, and so has Phoebe. You never show it to any of us because you're too afraid. When you told me.that time on top of the building, well, I thought about it for a while and, well, I found that I really love you too, that you just try and hide it so nobody will ever know, especially me.' He said quickly. With every word my jaw fell further and further toward the ground. Why couldn't I move? I wanted to hug him and kiss him and tell him that I loved him too, but my muscles wouldn't budge, until I saw that cute smile on his lips that warmed my ice cold muscles and I fell to him. I hugged him with every ounce of energy I had till he couldn't breathe, so I pulled away from our embrace, looking down at him in the eye. He really wasn't that much shorter than me, maybe a few inches.  
  
That's when he made his move and I just about died. For that moment in Heaven lasted a lifetime, and still has, even at thirty-one with two children (a boy and a girl), happily married to my first and only love for ten years, being a couple for almost twenty. That first kiss he gave to me will remain in my memory forever. Then I told him for the second time that I loved him, realizing what he meant before. I had finally found love; not some fake love that two people say so others will respect them, or for money, or just because, but true love, and it was the first one I actually ever loved. Now as I lay in bed writing with his arms around me, reading every word I've written, I know that we have something rare, something not many people in this world will ever have, the security in knowing it will last forever, knowing you have truly found your soulmate. And out of the corner of my perefrial vision when Arnold first told me he loved me, I was Lila, smiling so hard her mouth might fall off and I realized she was actually good, but still shallow. She went on to two divorcees, and two children, making a big haul out of both broken marriages. We still keep in contact, but not often. I was also very proud to be the maid of honor at my best friend, Phoebe's wedding, as my husband and I waked down the aisle together for the third time in our lives. The first time was when we were nine, being the best man and maid of honor at our coach's wedding, our own wedding, and our best friends wedding; and we were still a handsome couple.  
  
Nowadays our children always ask us the story of how we met, and fell in love, and it's on of Gerald's legends now that he likes to tell our children now when he and Phoebe come to call. It's a legend, and a test of true love, one that is rare, but sometimes the rarest pearl must come from inside the deepest shells until the world knows how beautiful they are, and to know they'll last forever.  
  
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Yay. I wrote this one like a month ago when I went up north for a dance competition. Sorry it has been so long since I've updated The Great Search and I'll Be Here For You~Always, but I need to type those up too, and figure some other stuff out. Always is finished, but Search isn't. I'm also working on some other chapter fics, these are what they are going to be titled and their genre(DON"T STEAL ANY OF MY IDEAS!! Heh, jk, lol):  
  
There is No Justice (Romance/Drama/Suspense)-Helga and Phoebe are defense attorneys in Hillwood and Arnold is the detective. When a murder case gets screwed up and Arnold and Helga have to work with each other, things get a little out of hand, and the real murderer is after Helga.(PG-13) How We Survived (Romance/Action/Adventure)-My version of a Cast Away type HA story. Helga is a famous movie star at 18 and she is moving to France. Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe come along on her private jet to help her get settled into her new home when the plane strikes a terrible storm and their plane glides into a deserted island, the pilots being killed on impact. How will they survive? What happens when feelings get out of control?(PG- 13) Enough is Enough (Drama, a HA style of the movie, Enough with JLo.)-If you've seen Enough, you know how the storyline goes. (PG-13) Love and Colorado (Romance)-Arnold and Helga are sent to foster care, in the same home after Arnold's grandparents die and Helga is taken away by social services since her parents pay absolutely no attention to her. Later on they become teenagers and sparks start to fly when they take a trip to Colorado to go skiing. They are forced apart after one night of.you know.but how will they ever see each other again?(R) Death of a Baby-sitter (Horror/Suspense)-Helga decided to take the job of baby-sitting Daniel, a quiet five-year-old who reminds her of Arnold. The mother warns Helga of her ex-husband who is dangerous. Strange things start to happen around the house as she baby-sits until someone wants her dead. She calls up Arnold who comes to the rescue, to help catch this person. Is it really who they think?(PG-13) Where We're From (Drama/Romance)-A story of the life Arnold and Helga led from the moment sparks flew, to the grave. Their first real kiss, their first date, their wedding, their first child, their first grandchild, everything. (PG-13)  
  
Anyway, I've got about three chapters left of number one, I'm still plotting things out on number two, I've got a ways to go on number three, I've gotten chapter one written of number four, number five should be out by next week, and six is still floating around in my head. Number six will be a really long one. If you want an in depth summary on each of the stories, I think I could tell you, just email me. Believe me, I'm really busy, but I'll continue writing until I finish every story I've started (Even What Will Come of Pretending). That's my greatest pet peeve, when people don't finish things they started, or leave it for others to clean up. Anyway, The Great Search will be up soon, as will I'll Be Here for you Always. I need a little help on The Great Search, if anyone wants to help me, just email me.  
  
Tell me what you think of my ideas. I'm also planning on writing a joint fic with TADAH, a sequel to her story, An Encounter to Remember. Look for that and I'll be posting some more short stories and a few song fics since my last song fic was pretty successful (except people saying that they hate Avril Lavigne. Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don't really appreciate it when some people called her a wanna be and a whore.) Anyway, R/R, and check out my profile for more stories and a poem!  
  
C ya l8ter!  
  
Arnoldnhelga4eva 


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